Letters from readers: Rick Scott

Tuesday

I can only hope this and so many other such incidents of his incompetence will be remembered at election time.

Please don't re-elect him, no matter how many millions of his own money he spends on TV ads!

Blaine Leighton Jr.,

Jacksonville

THE COST OF WAR

Real comparisonsDo the American people really understand the cost of war?

I came across an item in Time magazine that said the United States had spent $642 billion in direct costs in Afghanistan from 2001 to the end of next year.

I began to wonder what else we could have done with $642 billion.

Here are a few examples:

- We could have spent the estimated $71 billion needed to repair the 18,000 structurally deficient bridges in the United States.

- And we could have spent $22 billion to repair or replace the 5,000 deteriorating schools in the United States.

- And we could have doubled the amount of money spent from the Federal Highway Trust Fund on highway and mass transit systems for 10 years at a cost of $360 billion.

- And we could have doubled the amount of money spent by Corps of Engineers on port dredging and expansion for 10 years at a cost of $15 billion.

- And we could have given $5,000 per year college scholarships to 100,000 students for four years at a cost of $2 billion.

- And we'd still have about $172 billion left to spend on any of the other dozens of domestic programs facing the mandatory federal budget reductions on the horizon.

And this doesn't even include the costs of the war in Iraq.

The point is our nation would be much stronger economically today had we found alternatives to these two costly, unnecessary wars.

What do we gain from "The War on Terror" if it impoverishes and weakens us in the process?

And with a presidential election upon us, there is virtually no debate on this issue. A Republican president started these wars and a Democratic president expanded one. Neither political party wants to call attention to this disastrous episode in U.S. history.

And, of course, the costliest part of these useless wars is the 5,550 U.S service members killed and 35,000 seriously injured.

For their families, the true cost of these wars will continue for years into the future.

Dan Dundon,

Jacksonville

ANTI-DISCRIMINATION

A matter of rightsOpponents of the gay anti-discrimination ordinance are pulling out all stops in opposition.

One author says this ordinance will be a lawyer's full employment act.

I have not seen that argument since it was used in the 1960s and 1970s in opposition to the civil rights legislation outlawing discrimination based on race or gender.

The writer is ignorant of or is ignoring the work that has been done in the last 40 years to ensure that qualified individuals are hired, not just those that would fill a quota. This has produced a much stronger workforce.

Gays do not want to be hired because they are gay. They are asking not to be excluded because they are gay.

Several are using the Holy Bible in opposition to the ordinance. They claim that gays can change their orientation and behavior.

If memory serves, this was the same Bible that was used to justify slavery and segregation for centuries even though those enslaved had black skin that they could not change.

Gays are simply asking for the opportunity to work beside you or live beside you, nothing more, nothing less.

David J. Bahn, Jacksonville

GAY ORDINANCE

Good for lawyersThe flap about adding homosexuals to the anti-discrimination ordinance is tantamount to issuing a blank check to the personal injury lawyers who already trump up discrimination cases.

We already have these lawsuits by police and firefighters who think they were passed over because of color.

What discrimination do the LGBT people imagine is being practiced?

If they approach a job interview with an overt display of their orientation, the employer will rightfully be concerned with how their actions or attitude will represent the company.

Most business is about promoting a product or service not a political ideology.

Today, the groups most denigrated and discriminated against are conservative Christians and Jews, so maybe we should add them to the anti-discrimination bill.

Anita Thompson,

Jacksonville

FUNDING TRANSIT

Give ferry priorityThe expense of the Mayport ferry is but 2.5 percent of the total expense of other similar transit services, yet it is the service that will be cut.

The ferry recovers a significantly higher percentage of its costs than the other services, yet it will be cut.

The solution to inept administration and management of the Skyway was to make it free!

This is yet another pathetic example of our world today!

R. Hicks,

Neptune Beach

A GREAT GIFT

Importance of thanksI am a kindergarten teacher in a small private school.

I have been teaching for more than 25 years and I just received one of the nicest end-of-the-year gifts that I have ever received.

It was a beautiful letter from a parent listing the things the child had learned from me this year.

It was a beautifully written letter that made me cry, but most of all it made me proud of my profession and excited about the opportunity of providing an even better learning environment the next year.

This letter was better than anything money can buy!

Robin White,

Jacksonville

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